He stooped and picked up the telescope from the fallen chest of the ex-navigator. Wiping the gore from it, he put it to his eye: Ahh a town. What did they say this town was called? Jidoor. Hmmm. Omega did not remember any town name Jidoor. How long was he in limbo? For whole towns as large as that to have sprung up. Questions questions. Another thing that was bothering him was, frankly, his awakening. He knew what powerful magic had put him in that void, and frankly, the crushing of the crystal should not have released him. The animus esper was just too strong. Something very powerful must have defeated the Animus esper to free him. But why?

Omega, to say the least, was puzzled. He also remembered the fool leaving some sort of gaurdian to protect the crystal. What of that? Curiouser and curiouser. Maybe it had something to do with the sense on inferioriry and incompletion he had been feeling since his return, but what?

He began to estamate how long it would take till they docked. Too lo-- Suddenly he screamed in agony, falling to the ground, clutching his pounding skull.

* - * - *

Darkness.

Void.

Emptiness.

A single entity rests in the void, barely aware. Somewhere in another reality there is a scream, then:

Pain.

The void begins to crack and split and with it so does the entity, screaming a silent scream in tune with it's agony.

The being is pulled apart with the shock of a baby from a mother's womb. It's very soul tears and rips, with a ghastly silent scream. One thing prevails:

Pain.

The entity is split. It lies in parts an infintessimle distant from it other parts. A knew feeling grows in the entity, a yearning. Yearning to be whole. Yearning and hating.

Emptiness.

Void.

Darkness.

* - * - *

The pain in the dream was echoed by the pain in reality. Omega's screams had stopped but not his torment. What was the meaning of this? He got up, wiping sweat from his brow. Somehow this explained everything. He just knew it.

"But how?" he pondered. "What does it mean? Someone must be able to tell me. I'll find myself a mind mage. That'll do the trick. In that town there - Jidoor. I'll search it high or low till find one."

Omega stood and went to the very front of the boat, and realized, to his utter anoyance, that he had absolutely no idea how to dock a boat. Well, it would be a good test of how this town handled Ghost ships.

With that Omega splashed a large quantity of gore onto his body, and lay down among his handiwork, hoping that the town's method didn't involve fire.

"What the...!"

Who was that? Omega couldn't see anyone, but he was dead sure he hadn't said that. It didn't even sound like him. Time to play possum again.

"On my mother's grave!" the first voice continued. Footsteps. Whoever it was was getting closer.

"Hello!" A second voice called out only to fail to get an answer.

"There isn't anyone left alive on this ship, mate." the first voice again. Two of them or two dominant - humanoids. Yes, humanoids....

First voice: "Look at this. I don't know what monster did this but I sure as hell don't want to meet up with it." Grin.

Second voice: "Neither do I. Look, I don't like it here. We're alone. Let's get out of here." Good, they were alone. Dinner time.

First voice: "Ok, then...." The statement was met with the cold harsh reply of death, as Omega hurled a coin into his throat.

The first man's body fell to its knees, then collapsed face first onto the carcass of a sailor. The second man fell to his knees also, but it was followed simply by a whining. Omega approached him, his grin like the gleaming eyes of a starving man when he sees food.

The man pleads, "Please. Dear God. Please... I've got a family..." he finished with a sob.

"What is your name?"

"What?" the man sobbed.

"WHAT IS YOUR NAME!" Omega screamed, losing patience.

"Jul... Jules."

"Well then, Jules, we're going to town."

"Please don't k... k... k..."

"I'm not going to kill you." Omega's smile faded from his face. "You're going to be my guide. I have no money, no map, and no clue. You're going to help me find an inn where I can get some rest. You behave - you'll live. Understand?"

"Ye... Yes."

"Stop sniveling and come on."

The two men left the ship; Jules nervously walked ahead. Omega, however, seemed to float down the boarding ramp, his cape flapping in the salty sea air.

The wreck and the wraith entered the town of Jidoor. Omega looked about. This was a town that had seen war. That was obvious. But it was repairing - not a shabby job, either. Whoever had won cared about the people.

The people were everywhere. This place, even at night, was teeming with people. Well actually, that wasn't quite true. Omega was being very subjective. But there were people, and they seemed all to be heading to the dock. Oh dear. That would mean they've discovered his dinner. Omega frowned, then released a little anger by kicking Jules in his butt.

"Ow!" the sniveling fool exclaimed.

"How much further?" Omega enquired gruffly.

"Just there." Jules pointed to the building a few meters in front of them.

"Good. Do you have any money?"

"Umm, no."

"If you're lying to me, I will kill you."

"I swear! I swear!" Jules pleaded.

"Come on then." the odd couple walked into the inn, even as the shouting of discovery erupted from the docks.

* * *

The two men sat, a very odd sight, at a table in the inn, doing their best to ignore the commotion outside. Jules, to Omega's shock, seemed to be enjoying himself now.

"So," Jules broke the silence that had settled over the table, "You never told me your name."

"Allow me then to introduce myself. I am a man of great wealth and taste..."

"Got an ego on you, don't you?" the frailer man joked, trying to seem jovial.

Ha. Omega chuckled. He hadn't done that in quite a long, and frankly it felt good. He was taking a slight liking to this pitiful excuse for a human being. He might even spare him when his use was over. All he showed Jules was a frown.

"The name is Omega."

"Err, nice to meet you Omega." Jules paused, unsure of foothold he had on his life. "Umm, err, well I was wondering, what exactly happened back on that ship?"

"An accident."

"Hmm. There were about 30 people on that boat."

"Like I said, and accident."

"Ahh."

"Exactly." For some unknown reason he liked this boy. He would keep him. "Jules, have you lived in this town long?"

"All my life. Since the right after the great cataclysm."

"The what?"

"The end of the world."

This came as a shock to Omega. "When did that end?"

"A few years ago." One would think there would be a difference.

"Say," Jules continued, as if sensing the ability to push his luck, "what rock did you crawl out from under?"

"I've been... away for a great many years."

"The end of the world was kind of hard to miss. Or so I'm told, born just after it. You can't be that dense, or that far away, to have missed it."

"Well I did. Why did it end?"

"Oh dear - you are clueless." Omega frowned. Any other person he was sure he would have ripped into their jugular with his teeth for a remark like that. Damn boy.

"Call me that again, I'll bite your nose off."

"I'm sorry, I'll be quiet. Please..."

"Shut up and tell me about the end of the world..."

And the story began.

* * *

The story ended.

The two men are still seated around the dingy inn table, sipping on their ale. Omega paid with a solid gold brick. It took the innkeeper an hour to find change.

"Very interesting."

"It gets better."

"Eh? How?"

"There's Sascha and Akfek."

"Akfek. How odd. That's hmm, no, no one is that corny. Who are Sascha and, and... Akfek?" he said stressing the consonants as if he had toads mating in his throat.

"Well," Jules began, "I don't no much but I know this...."

* * *

Jules finished again. Omega looked at him, an idea formulating in his mind, only to be interrupted ten seconds later by Jules' pratter.

"So, you seem to know absolutely nothing about this world at all. Kind of suspicious if you ask me."

"You're getting friendly with a man that slaughtered your fellow men and friends. Kind of suspicious if you ask me." Omega grinned. The best defense is a good offense.

"Hey what do you mean by that!"

"Just you don't seem to mind so much. You in fact, are almost to the level of licking my boots."

"So maybe I didn't like 'em too much. OK. No crime. And I'm not licking your boots!"

"Whatever you say. Didn't you say you had a family?" The grin turned to a smile. Omega liked this sad little maggot.

"Yeah, well..." Jules was obviously very flustered. He was hiding something. Omega could tell. There was more to this boy than he had first thought. Something lurking. He liked that.

"Come along, we're leaving."

"What?"

"I'm bored of this place."

"Don't you want to sleep?"

"Don't be stupid. Come on now."

"Why?" the boy whined.

Omega grabbed him by the collar and lifted him from the chair.

"We," Omega said, still smiling, "are going to find Sascha and Akfek."

She let out a scream. Her ankle was sprained. Her heart was pounding. She couldn't keep this up much longer. Those things would find her. God knows what they were, but they were mean, nasty, and dreadfully cute. Kind of like big puffy teady bears. Only they said the same damn thing over and over again. She had stupidly thought they would be friendly, or even non-sentient, but when she had tried to take the crown they had objected with large, nasty, pointy things. Not a good way to entertain a guest. And they were out there somewhere, looking for her.

Samantha hobbled around the next corner, and there she saw her salvation. A grate leading into a small room. Those things wouldn't be able to fit through that. She was sure.

So Samantha pulled herself up to the grate with a loud "Oomph". Now in the grate she could see what was in the small room. It was some kind of tomb. How interesting. Not only would this make a good hiding place, but there might be some loot. She foolishly hoped that there might be something big enough to fill the loss at not haven stolen the crown.

Samantha hoped down into the town, careful not to land on her damaged ankle. Wow this place was eery. Covered in all sorts of odd ruins- ruins that were glowing. Wierd.

She noticed there was some kind of alter in the center of the room. This just got better and better. She sighed. This was not the sort of place she wanted to be spending the nigh....

What?! She noticed a faint glow eminating from cracks in the altar. Not the glow of the ruins. Someting more. She somehow knew it was valuable. She slinked over to the alter and began to open it....

As the top of the alter slid off, energy surged into her. She could feel it, and it felt good. She felt as if she could take on the world. Her ankle was feeling better too. She looked down at the alter ready to hoist the top off when she realized she could read the ruins, which she did with growing apprehension.

Here lieth the Devourer of Souls. May his soul

lie in eternal unrest for all of eternity. Let

him not awaken, for following him shortly is

Revelation.

-Magus Torpor, Order of the Sacred Dawn

Damn. This might not be wise. Then she saw the jewel in the crypt, the light refracting off it's perfect lattice. She smiled, and reached into the crypt to remove the jewel...

When the Devourer came for his soul, he would instead find this waiting for him. It would be The Magus' coup de' grace. And with it his destiny would be complete. He would have stopped the un-nameable one forever. Stopped the Seventh Sign.

The Magus sat in his chair waiting for Death, as the tower exploded around him. Now his and the Devourer's destinies would meet, and everything would be decided by yhe Magus' success. Everything.